Government is now “red-flagging” as potential threats to national security the families of men and women who went to Syria to fight for the Islamic State (Isis). This is in addition to T&T fighters in Isis.
T&T Guardian has exclusively obtained documents with more than 100 names of men, women and children who travelled to Syria between 2013 and late 2015.
National Security Minister Edmund Dillon yesterday authenticated the Guardian’s information.
The number includes approximately 40 children from 20 families. (C BX) It included children as young as three, who could not have made the decision independently—and up to 16. The report gave the biographical backgrounds and included pictures of all listed.
Dillon is looking at travel to other countries besides those in which Isis operates, Syria and Iraq. One group under scrutiny is muslims who travel to Mecca for the annual pilgrimage, the Hajj. Recognising the potential for accusations of anti-Muslim discrimination, Dillon said that while there are genuine pilgrims, they have to monitor all areas and look at all possibilities.
Number of Isis sympathisers
The true number of terrorists is a matter of dispute.
Last Friday in Parliament, Opposition MP Roodal Moonilal claimed that about 400 T&T nationals had been indoctrinated radicalised and trained by Isis. He described Isis as the most significant security threat to T&T. Moonilal called on Government to say what it was doing about claims of weapons being stockpiled in T&T and a threat to the State.
In his interview with SG yesterday, Dillon cited a much lower figure. His blacklist list contained 105 descriptions of men, women and children who have gone to Syria. He added that his own information was that the number was “ just over 90 to 100 or so.”
Former PP National Security minister Carl Alfonso said the figures given by Moonilal and the police report were in sync with what he recalled of the matter. He estimated a network of approximately 300 was involved, between those locally assisting travel to Syria and those who had actually gone.
His predecessor, Gary Griffith said those who went to Syria fell into three categories: T&T fighters confirmed as being Isis terrorists who in his tenure numbered 30 plus. They were red-flagged with international allies and wouldn’t be allowed to board flights to return here, he added.
A second group involved families/sympathisers who went to Syria, who weren’t deemed terrorists and not red-flagged. The third category comprised those who provided support/funding for those who left—the reason he formed a counter-terrorism unit.
“That category may be a small group, they don’t make themselves known but are sympathisers and should be monitored also through the Financial Intelligence Unit,” he said.
Former National Operations Centre head Garvin Heerah said the figure in 2012-13 was around 87 to 90 and could have increased subsequently.
“The figures in the Guardian article can be verified as true and correct...based on the Joint Intelligence sharing platform coordinated by the NOC, chaired by the SSA, the figures were 87 plus, as well as strong possibility of an increase if the amount that left T&T also included children.
“Information was gathered, corroborated and shared amongst intelligence agencies, regional partners and international allies regarding T&T nationals who were transiting to Syria,” Heerah added.
Dillon confirmed that apart from three women who returned from Turkey in 2014, two other T&T nationals also returned in 2016.
Security agencies said the two recent returnees were males in their 30s from north and east Trinidad. They were halted at Turkey and not allowed to reach Syria, after saying they came on “vacation.”
Dillon said the number of T&T nationals heading to Syria annd Isis slowed this year. This may be due to recent setback for Isis and the battlefield, and their losing big chunks of territory in Syria and Iraq.
The 2013-2015 police list obtained howed a pattern of more men heading to Syria in earlier years (since 2013) and family groups going in 2014 and 2015.
Men’s ages ranged from early 20s to 50s, and the women’s ages ranged from teens to 50s. Boys outnumbered girls among the children. Age range for both groups was three to 16.
The only returnees on that particular list were a mother and two daughters (referenced by Dillon) whose address was given as Rio Claro and Enterprise.
The two girls plus two boys were listed as leaving in September 2014 and arriving in Turkey in November 2014. A 38-year-old man also from Rio Claro/Enterprise, and said to have been associated with mosques in those areas, had from the listing accompanied the girls and boys when they left T&T. The girls were detained at a refugee camp in Turkey.
The mother’s departure date from T&T was given as November 2014 and she was listed as detained at the Turkish refugee camp also. She and the girls returned home later that month. This was done with state agencies’ assistance since the women had sought help on the basis of alleged trafficking of the girls. They arrived home escorted by T&T officials. The man (Anthony Hamlet) and two boys went on to Syria and he reportedly “died in battle.”
MORE INFO
SYRIA-BOUND (2013-2015)
MEN—from Union Village, Ecclesvilles and other Rio Claro areas; Enterprise, Boundary Road; Aranguez; handful of Cunupia areas, Edinburgh 500, Maloney Gardens, D’Abadie, Gonzales Belmont, Cocoyea Village, San Fernando, Richplain Road, Diego Martin, La Canoa Road, Santa Cruz; Don Miguel Road, San Juan; Poinsettia Drive and Coconut Drive, Morvant; Pranz Gardens Claxton Bay; Trou Macaque Road, Laventille; Craignish Village, Princes Town; Petit Valley. Among those confirmed in Syria were Shane Crawford (aka Asadulladh) of Wallerfield, who left in November 2013, and South cleric Ashmead Chote listed as departing via Brazil in August 2015.
WOMEN—from Rio CLaro; Mayaro; Ecclesville; Enterprise, Chaguanas; Cunupia; La Canoa Road, Lower Santa Cruz; Longdenville; Geoffrey Street, Diego Martin; Cane Farm, Trincity; Don Miguel Road, San Juan; Las Alturas; Morvant; Pranz Gardens, Claxton Bay.
FAMILIES:
Cunupia family (26-year-old male, eight-year-old boy)
Cunupia couple, six-year old boy, ten-year-old girl
Rio Claro/Enterprise (38-year-old male, two teen girls, sons eight and 14)
Edinburgh 500 couple (boys six, eight and seven)
Rio Claro family (plus five-year-old girl, two-year-old boy)
Rio Claro woman and Mayaro man (plus sons six and 12)
Santa Cruz couple plus girls 16 and four, and boy 12
Longdenville woman and 14-year-old son
Ecclesville family ( couple and boys six and seven
Ecclesville family (52-year-old couple, 21-year-old daughter)
Union Village Rio Claro couple plus eight-year-old daughter and sons five and six
Trincity woman, Gonzales man, six-year-old daughter, two eight-year-old sons and 13 year-old-boy
North Maloney, D’Abadie couple and nine-year-old daughter
Rio Claro male, Saudi Arabian-born, Mayaro-based woman and 13-year-old female who left in March 2015.
Six member San Juan group including a man, woman, 27-year-old male, and boys two, five and seven who left in March 2015 via Brazil)
Oilfield Road, Rio Claro family including three-year-old-son who left in March 2015,
US-born Mayaro Road, Rio Claro family (16-year-old boy, girls eight and 14, and boys five and 12) )who left in March 2015
Las Alturas, Morvant family including seven-year-old girl, boys three and five who left in June 2015
Pranz Gardens Claxton Bay group (including two women, 36-year-old man, boys 12 and 13, and girls seven and ten
Pranz Gardens mother and nine-year-old son
Petit Valley, five and nine-year-old boys.
REPORTEDLY “KILLED IN BATTLE”—Milton Algernon (aka Fareed Mustapha of Rio Claro) in July 2015; Sean John Bartholomew (aka Shabazz) of Santa Cruz; Tariq Abdul Haqq of Lopinot Road Arouca; Shawn Parsons of D’Abadie; and Osayaba Abdullah Mohammed, Anthony Hamlet.
ROUTES TAKEN:
Trinidad, Tobago, Frankfurt, Turkey.
Trinidad, Venezuela or Barbados or Guyana or Suriname or Brazil or Panama, London, Egypt
Cucacao, Amsterdam, Poole, London.
Shawn Parsons—reportedly killed—had travel information listed as via London, Dubai and Manila.